Cornuck wrote:I'm guessing that when we do win a Cup, some people will bitch that it wasn't a sweep.

For my own part I can only say that I'll be celebrating just like every one else. But I see no reason to not only praise MG good achievements I think by the same token he should be held accountable for his screw up. Seems fair to me. I haven't met the man yet that is perfect. I make my own judgements and choose not to follow the herd. Some get down right ornery if they don't get the recognition they believe is due them.

Here's an article that is a fair assesment of MG IMO

Vancouver GM Mike Gillis will never be mistaken for jovial, or spontaneous, or just plain fun-loving. His media interviews are an exercise in speaking in measured, precise sentences while barely concealing his impatience with the interviewer. But apart from often looking like someone just shot his dog, Gillis has initiated change in Vancouver. Unfortunately, he is reluctant to share his secrets with the world.

One of Gillis’ first steps when taking over from the fired Dave Nonis was to determine that Vancouver’s geographic location put his club at a competitive disadvantage.

His players crossed too many time zones to play too many nights on road trips that often lasted six or seven games.

Eating and sleeping at odd hours and lack of time for decent practices made Vancouver’s schedule considerably more difficult than almost everyone east of Detroit and south of Montreal. Gillis hired sleep experts to study the schedule and advise the team when to fly out after a game on the road, and when to stay over and fly the next day. Gillis has reportedly consulted sports psychologists and the Canucks’ nutritional regime maximizes the probability that the players are eating properly. There are apparently other things the Canucks do to make it easier for the players to perform at a high level, with the proper amount of rest, nutrition and physical conditioning, but Gillis has emplaced a cone of silence around the team that makes it difficult to get the information.

Whatever the club is doing away from the public eye has resulted in back to back President’s Trophies. And yes, I hear you Chicago and Boston fans, but Gillis designed the wrong team to win a Stanley Cup: not big enough, not tough enough and a lack of secondary scoring in clutch situations. Gradually, the league has reverted to the not so distant time when biggest was best, and bigger was still pretty good.The subtle reversion of NHL hockey into a big man’s game began with the Boston Bruins defeat of Vancouver in the 2011 Cup final. Vancouver’s smaller, skilled players were pounded into submission by the bigger and badder Bruins and the Canucks had not enough healthy bodies, no toughness, and no plausible answer for the NHL’s sudden acceptance of brutality. The Bruins deserved to win, because their best players were mostly their biggest and meanest, while Vancouver pinned their dashed hopes on quick transition and outscoring the opposition. Oops.

After his team’s 2012 elimination by LA in five games, Gillis remarked that sometime early in the second half of the season the game began to be called differently. Hooking and obstruction penalties weren’t being called as frequently, stick fouls were increasingly ignored and the league’s heavy-handed Shanahammer approach to suspensions generally faded away. Inconsistency and often puzzling suspensions ended up looking pretty much the way they did under the disciplinary regime of Colin Campbell. Little wonder, then, that a big, punishing LA Kings team outhit, outscored and outmuscled four teams on their way to the Cup in 2012. The hack and the whack are back, and Gillis has had to come up with a measured response.

Following his observation about the change in the way the games were refereed, Gillis set out to do what he saw the Kings and the Bruins do; to load up on players who are big, skilled and tough. He signed Florida free agent Jason Garrison, who is grittier than the departed Sami Salo, but not necessarily better defensively. Gillis has attempted to sweet talk Shane Doan into signing and might yet succeed. Doan plays a tough, punishing game and can score big goals, so he’d be a key addition. The Canucks may also be trying to reach an agreement with Jason Arnott, a proven third line centre who could fill in on the second line in Ryan Kesler’s absence. The real key, though, would be if Gillis were somehow able to trade Roberto Luongo and whatever else to Florida for any package that includes Nick Bjugstad, a 6’5”, 215 pound centre who is committed to another year at U of Minnesota. As much as Gillis ever tips his hand, his choice of free agent and trade targets shows that he is trying to achieve two goals: 1) to build a team that can compete for the Stanley Cup right now, and 2) to add youth to a core that is on the cusp of showing its age. The Sedins will be 32 this season and as amazingly well-conditioned as they keep themselves, a modest decline will inevitably show itself, though probably not this season. Ryan Kesler is coming off another major surgery, and the fear is that his take-no-prisoners style of play is too hard on his body over the long term. He hasn’t been right the last two playoffs, so unless Kesler changes his game, he is likely to wear down as the season progresses. The key to this year’s training camp, whenever that may be, will be to see if any of the Gillis draft picks and free agents are ready to play in the NHL. Centre Jordan Schroeder got better and better at both ends of the ice in his second year in the AHL and, with Kesler unable to play until December, he will be given a shot at starting the year in Vancouver. On defence, the offensively-oriented Kevin Connauton will be given a decent shot at staying with the team as a depth guy who can help out on the power play. Goaltender Eddie Lack is a 6’5” Swedish giant who is considered to be very close to earning a spot as Cory Schneider’s backup. Recent draft picks who will get a look in training camp are forwards Nicklas Jensen and Brendan Gaunce and defenceman Frankie Corrado. None of these last three is likely to start the season in Vancouver.

With the exception of Gaunce, Gillis confounded many rival GMs at this year’s Entry Draft when he selected older players who had been passed over in their own draft years. His reasoning appears to be that older players are one year closer to accepting the challenges of pro hockey, and one year more mature. Some have criticized Gillis, but he doesn’t seem to let it spoil his day. He’s too busy thinking of ways to give his team a competitive advantage in a geographically isolated city in a league dominated by the east. And there’s nothing jovial, spontaneous or fun about that.

Cornuck wrote:I'm guessing that when we do win a Cup, Royaldude, Mondi, Bersnoozi, Fred and the Dogsalmon will bitch that it wasn't a sweep.

FYP

if we win it once i dont really give a fuck how bad we get in the following seasons...i will always be able to remember that one moment when it all worked out for us and we got to pack the jug...some of us have been watching these clowns since game 1 in the league(1970)...we are a tad older...a tad impatient and a lot more goddamn miserable...

the Dogsalmon wrote:if we win it once i dont really give a fuck how bad we get in the following seasons...i will always be able to remember that one moment when it all worked out for us and we got to pack the jug...some of us have been watching these clowns since game 1 in the league(1970)...we are a tad older...a tad impatient and a lot more goddamn miserable...

You got that right, I'ver had my season tickets since '73 you wonder if it's ever going to happen in your life time

the Dogsalmon wrote:if we win it once i dont really give a fuck how bad we get in the following seasons...i will always be able to remember that one moment when it all worked out for us and we got to pack the jug...some of us have been watching these clowns since game 1 in the league(1970)...we are a tad older...a tad impatient and a lot more goddamn miserable...

You got that right, I'ver had my season tickets since '73 you wonder if it's ever going to happen in your life time

every goddamn day i wonder when it will happen and how fucking good its gonna feel when it finally does...i remember the day of game 7 against the Bruins...i got down on my knees and asked God for one fucking favour...just this one time not to take me in the ass like a cheap tramp...what did i get...an eyefull of tears and holy water on my back...its gonna happen...yes its gonna happen...i just dont know when...more than anything i want that fucking t-shirt that says Stanley Cup Champions!!!

the Dogsalmon wrote:You got that right, I'ver had my season tickets since '73 you wonder if it's ever going to happen in your life time

every goddamn day i wonder when it will happen and how fucking good its gonna feel when it finally does...i remember the day of game 7 against the Bruins...i got down on my knees and asked God for one fucking favour...just this one time not to take me in the ass like a cheap tramp...what did i get...an eyefull of tears and holy water on my back...its gonna happen...yes its gonna happen...i just dont know when...more than anything i want that fucking t-shirt that says Stanley Cup Champions!!!

Yeah, I hear that. I paid a fair sum to fly to Van from Boston after Game 1. Told family/friends, it will all be worth it if I fly home with that darn t-shirt, that's all I want. Now and then I go on youtube and watch Burrows Game 2 OT goal ("Alex Burrows has done it again!"), and recall my bro and I having a beer on Broadway, him saying: "Dude, you're going to get that t-shirt." And then...and then....we all know. I was in the stands in 82, managed to be in home from NY in 94, and then 2011. If/when they get to the final again, I'm staying put...and never moving to Toronto!

I'm an atheist, but if we win the Cup, I'm willing to shift to agnostic

Boston Canucker wrote:Yeah, I hear that. I paid a fair sum to fly to Van from Boston after Game 1. Told family/friends, it will all be worth it if I fly home with that darn t-shirt, that's all I want. Now and then I go on youtube and watch Burrows Game 2 OT goal ("Alex Burrows has done it again!"), and recall my bro and I having a beer on Broadway, him saying: "Dude, you're going to get that t-shirt." And then...and then....we all know. I was in the stands in 82, managed to be in home from NY in 94, and then 2011. If/when they get to the final again, I'm staying put...and never moving to Toronto!

I'm an atheist, but if we win the Cup, I'm willing to shift to agnostic

I was on the streets for Game 5, and in the stands for 6 and 7. I just couldn't imagine being anywhere else in the world if the Canucks had a chance to finally seal the deal.

The clip that I still gravitate to is Game 5.

"Lapierre......"

*seemingly endless pause*

"...SCORES!"

The other shoe always drops on the Canucks eventually, and I was so sure that Games 3 and 4 were it, Boston wasn't going to lose again. And then that damn goal....I actually legitimately, right down to the bottom of my soul believed that the Canucks had shaken off the spankings in Boston and were going to find a way to win one more. Two chances for a team that was combined 69-27-9 to that point in the year.

What pissed me off most about the SCF was the way they went out in game 7.

Shut out on home ice. Fuck me, that stinks.

Those Canadian women may have lost to the USA in a heart breaking manner in the biggest game of their lives, but you can never say they didn't leave it all on the field. And...their best player did everything in her power. She had the game of her life, in the game of her life.

The Nucks? Biggest of game of their lives and they got shut out, at home.